Storm
by Hanekaeru
Summary: It starts with a storm. Seven people have gained powers through contact with Echizen Ryoma, and there are two other groups like them. However, there's now a new factor in the equation that they didn't expect. AtobeRyomaJiroh, MomoshiroAn.
1. Storm

A sudden storm had come up during practice, complete with plenty of lightning and booming thunder. And, of course, way too much rain to be legal, though the storm itself isn't really that big of a surprise. As usual, Momoshiro doesn't bother to keep his opinion of the circumstances a secret.

"There've been too many storms lately!" he complains as he dries off his hair. Eiji nods vehemently in agreement.

"It's surprising that there haven't been many floods yet," Fuji comments.

"It is strange. I wonder why," Oishi says as he finishes drying off.

"What do you think, Echizen?" Momoshiro asks, just to see what would happen. When there's no answer at all, he turns to look at the freshman, and blinks. "Echizen?"

The boy in question is standing at the window, staring out at the storm. An unused towel is grasped loosely in one hand, and Ryoma doesn't seem to care that he's still soaked. Oishi looks over, and his mother instinct immediately kicks in.

"Ryoma, you should dry off," he says. Ryoma doesn't so much as bat an eyelash; the storm has captured his attention completely. It isn't until Eiji jumps on him that he takes his eyes away from the window.

"Kikumaru-sempai," he mutters, glancing over his shoulder. In the process, he notices some of his teammates watching, and blinks before tugging his cap down to hide his eyes. Eiji hops off, then wraps an arm around the shorter boy's shoulders.

"Scared of the storm, Ochibi?" he asks, grinning. At the mention of the storm, Ryoma lifts his head and blinks again, this time as if he's just remembered something important. His large, cat-like eyes go straight back to the window and stay there.

"No. I'm not scared," he whispers. There's something strange about his voice, and now everyone's looking at him. Inui is frowning thoughtfully, one hand resting on his notebook, but he doesn't move to pick it up.

"I'm going outside," Ryoma announces suddenly, after several minutes of heavy silence. Eiji and Momoshiro jump slightly, startled, and by the time they and everyone else have gotten over their surprise, Ryoma is opening the door. A gust of wind blows his hat off and sweeps rain into the room.

"O-oi, Echizen!" Momoshiro moves forward, but two steps later Ryoma is outside and out of reach. Momoshiro and Eiji are the next to reach the door, and the others quickly follow. Ignoring their shouts, Ryoma keeps walking until he can't hear them anymore, though he doesn't have to go much farther than twenty feet. Once he reaches this point, he closes his eyes and turns his face up to the clouds. The rain pounds against him, collects between his closed lips, beats at his eyelids. Thunder crashes, so loudly it almost drowns out the sound of the rain, which is quite an accomplishment. Lightning streaks through the air; he can see it through his eyelids. And to be completely honest, standing there in the storm is one of the most comfortable - for lack of a better word - things he's ever expirienced. In fact, he feels like he _belongs_ here.

Two of his teammates are now running towards him; he can feel their every footstep, hear their every breath, see the muscles of their legs at work even with his eyes closed, taste their skin as the rain hit it, as disturbing as that seems. It's strange to have his senses know these things when they shouldn't be able to. Maybe it's just because he's around them so often, maybe he's merely imagining it. And he knows they're running towards him because that's what they would do. But, how can he explain the way he can tell which ones they were?

_Kaidoh-sempai_, the rain, he, says, lips hardly moving. The rainwater that had collected there drips down his chin, dislodged by the movement. _Momo-sempai._ And it makes sense that it's just those two, because it's a very Kaidoh-and-Momo thing to do, now that he thinks about it.

And then strong hands and arms are pulling him back, and he hears Momoshiro's voice, and Kaidoh's, proving him right. _No,_ he protests firmly at being dragged, but only in his mind, because his voice doesn't seem to be working. He can't glare at them, either, because his eyes are still closed.

Something in the air shifts slightly, and Ryoma sees lightning strike the place he'd been standing just a moment before. It's beautiful and deadly at the same time, he thinks, sort of like Fuji-sempai. Momo and Kaidoh have stopped moving, surprised, and Ryoma's eyes are still closed.

The cat-like eyes open in time to see lightning flash again, but it doesn't strike anything. He's relieved, because somehow he knows that if his eyes had remained closed, the lightning would have struck him and Momo and Kaidoh, and it would've been _all his fault_. But at the same time, he feels disappointed, for some inexplicable reason, as if he's missing out on something wonderful. He wonders vaguely if this means he's a masochist, and doesn't notice that he's being dragged again.

Abruptly, he finds himself sitting down. In the distance, he can hear the sound of a door closing, and someone fussing over him. It takes him a moment to realise he isn't outside anymore, and he feels a pang of regret, or, if it isn't that, it's something he can't define. He realises he feels numb from the force of the rain, and he realises that, for a moment, he'd lost all common sense and actually gone out into that storm from Hell. He also realises that he's shivering violently, and he frowns and curls up slightly to try and get warm.

Oishi wraps a towel around the boy, who looks very small and pitiful sitting there on the floor. Ryoma gratefully tightens the towel around himself, but the shivering doesn't cease.

"What in the world possessed you to go out into that?" Oishi asks, sighing. Ryoma doesn't respond, but Oishi doesn't really expect him to.

"You scared us to death. If it weren't for Momo and Kaidoh, you'd have been hit by that lightning," Eiji says, shivering at the thought. Ryoma mumbles something incoherent, and curls up as much as possible.

"It doesn't look like the rain will let up soon. We might have to spend the night here," Momoshiro remarks. Ryoma closes his eyes and yawns, resting his head on his knees. Momoshiro scoops him up and sets him on one of the benches, then makes a valiant attempt at getting him to wake up. "Echizen, you should dry off before you sleep."

Ryoma sleepily swats at the older boy's hand. "Go 'way, Momo-sempai," he mumbles. If everyone's going to bug him about drying off and not let him get any sleep, he doesn't wan't to stay the night here. He wrinkles his nose, and wills the rain to just stop already.

Momoshiro is trying to think of a good threat and has nearly come up with something when he realises it's suddenly become very quiet, and he looks out the window. "Oh, the storm stopped," he says, blinking in surprise, and looks back at Ryoma and finds that the boy is already fast asleep.


	2. Picture

The day after the storm - and Echizen's unusual behavior - Momoshiro doesn't come to school because of a cold, but Kaidoh is fine, and Echizen doesn't so much as sniffle all day. That night, however, another sudden storm comes, and Fuji Syuusuke just _knows_ something strange is going on. Then Echizen doesn't show up at school for three days. The excuse is a cold, but Fuji doubts that's the truth. He's proven right when Echizen finally does make an appearance; the boy's right arm is wrapped in bandages. Everyone questions him about it, but he shrugs off the inquiries and goes about his day, as if nothing is wrong. Eventually, the subject of his arm is dropped. Fuji wonders if anyone else saw the reflection of a storm in Echizen's eyes. Surely it would be obvious, since the day is a warm one and there are no storms to be reflected.

Thoughts of Echizen are erased from his mind when, during class, his notes move. The papers stay perfectly still, but the words are moving. They're swaying, squirming, flailing, and Fuji just stares at them for a moment before looking around to see if anyone has noticed. He looks back at his notes and wills them to be still. Surprisingly enough - or maybe not, considering - they obey the silent command. But no sooner does he resume writing than the words start moving again.

All day this happens. Fuji can't touch anything that has a word or a picture or even numbers on it, because the word or picture will come to life. He always manages to get it to stop, and as long as he doesn't touch the object again, it's fine. In a couple instances, there are witnesses, but that's easily dealt with.

Practice after school goes well, and Fuji forgets about the day's earlier events. That is, until practice ends, and he just happens to lock gazes with Echizen. They stare at each other silently for a few moments. Fuji searches Echizen's eyes, finds the reflection of the storm is still there. Echizen searches Fuji's eyes, then nods once, touches the brim of his cap, and turns away. The older boy wonders what the younger saw in his eyes. Then he happens to recall that earlier this morning, his hand had accidentally brushed against Echizen's bandaged arm. It had gotten no reaction at all; Echizen hadn't even turned to look at him. Fuji doesn't remember seeing anyone else even accidentally touch that arm. It's something to consider.

Later, in the safety of his room, Fuji experiments. He pulls out a pad of paper and writes down random things; names, numbers, whatever comes into his head. He even draws a couple of stick figures. All of them come to life. He smiles and watches the stick fingers dance along the page, then orders the scribblings to be still. They freeze where they are. He writes some more things, willing them to be still as he does. It works, so he practices until he doesn't have to concentrate too much. He sets his pen aside and puts the notepad away. As he does, a small photo album that had been perched precariously on the edge of his desk falls to the floor. Fuji picks it up, then pauses. What if he could make photos move, too?

He opens the album without hesitation. Flipping through it, he stops on a page that's full of pictures of the other regulars. He lightly touches a picture of Kawamura, and it moves, as expected. But that's not all that happens. He hears his friend's voice, very faintly, and lowers his head towards the photo album to hear it better. The other boy is talking to his father, and since his voice is so quiet, it's difficult to tell what is being said. Fuji straightens up and considers the photo. When the picture was taken, Kawamura was nowhere near his father; in fact, he was at school. So, if he wasn't hearing a memory, was he hearing an actual conversation? He wills the picture to go back to normal, then touches pictures of his other friends, smiling as he listens in on them. Momoshiro and Echizen are arguing. Kaidoh is jogging. Eiji is playing a video game. Faint music and the sound of turning pages is all he hears from Oishi. And there is silence from Tezuka. Finally, Fuji touches the picture of Inui. He hears only muttering.

After a moment or two of trying to decipher the words, Fuji gives up. "I wonder if you're concocting a new kind of juice, or if you're just gathering data," he murmurs, straightening up. Inui's muttering stops abruptly, and Fuji leans back down, curious.

"...Fuji?" Inui says. Fuji's smile widens. Well, he thinks, isn't this convenient?

"No, Inui, this is your conscience speaking," he says sweetly. "Actually, yes, it is Fuji. Have I interrupted anything important? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"No, you haven't. I was merely adding the finishing touches to the latest version of vegetable juice." Fuji hears the sound of liquid being poured into a container, and guesses that the juice is being poured into a thermos. Or even several.

"Ah, good. Well, would you meet me at the street tennis courts that Echizen and Momo always go to? I would like to speak with Echizen, too, and you could try out your new juice on Momo."

Inui agrees to meet him, and Fuji 'turns off' the photograph.

The two arrive at the designated place not long afterwards, Fuji armed with a camera and a couple of photos, Inui wielding a thermos and his infamous notebook. There is no doubt in Fuji's mind about what the contents of that thermos are. At any rate, neither of them go up to the actual courts yet.

"What is it you wanted to discuss?" Inui inquires.

"May I see your notebook for a moment?" Fuji asks, stepping forward and holding out a hand. "I want to show you something." Inui hesitates a moment, then hands over the notebook. Fuji turns to a random page, then moves closer, so Inui can see clearly.

"Watch," he says, and touches a word with his fingertips. It moves, and then the rest of the writing moves, like a chain reaction. Inui stares. Fuji wills the writing to be still, and it obeys. He closes the notebook and hands it back to Inui, who takes it then looks at him.

"How long have you been able to do that?" he asks.

"Since this morning," Fuji says, smiling. "It gave me quite a surprise in class, and the rest of the day at school was troublesome."

Inui nods, then gives voice to his other question. "How did you speak to me, earlier?" he wants to know. Fuji takes out one of the photos he brought and holds it up for Inui to see. It's a picture of Momoshiro and Echizen, and the instant Fuji's fingertips come in contact with the picture, it moves, and they can clearly hear what Momoshiro is saying, and that Echizen is getting a soda from a vending machine. Inui opens his mouth to speak, and Fuji shakes his head. Inui nods and shuts his mouth, and Fuji shuts off the photo before putting it back in his pocket.

"Let's go meet Echizen and Momo, now," the shorter of the two suggests, and they go up to the courts. They find that Momoshiro is now playing against Kamio - no surprise there - and Echizen is sitting under a tree beside a sleeping boy that Fuji recognises as Akutagawa Jiroh, from Hyotei. As Fuji walks toward them, Inui goes to watch the game between Momoshiro and Kamio, and he hears Inui say something about the loser being required to drink vegetable juice. He pauses and looks back. Judging by the look on Kamio's face, the boy is already familiar with Inui's concoctions. Fuji chuckles quietly to himself and resumes walking towards Echizen and the still-asleep Jiroh.

"Hello, Echizen," Fuji says, smiling down at the first year, and the boy looks up at him, the usual bored expression on his face. Fuji sits down next to him(on the left, since Jiroh is on the right) and gestures to Jiroh. "Friend of yours?"

"No," Echizen says, and sips his grape Ponta. Fuji takes out a photo - it's the picture of Inui he'd used earlier - and looks at it.

"Echizen, something interesting's been happening," he says.

"What does that have to do with a picture of Inui-sempai?" Echizen asks.

"Just watch," Fuji says. Until this moment, he's been holding the photograph without letting his fingertips touch the actual picture. Now he lets them come into contact with it, and the photo comes to life. Echizen watches silently until Fuji turns off the photo, but it isn't either of them that speaks first.

"Hey, that's a neat trick. Do it again," Jiroh says, peering over Echizen's shoulder.

"It's not a trick," Echizen informs the other boy, and uses his right arm to try and push him away. Fuji senses the small gathering of power around Echizen's hand when it comes into contact with Jiroh's shoulder, but the other two don't seem to.

"Then what is it?" Jiroh asks, moving so he's sitting beside Echizen instead of almost-behind him. Echizen shrugs, and Jiroh continues pestering him about it for a while before giving up and reaching over to poke at the photo, as if that would make it move. Fuji smiles and touches the photograph again, and Jiroh watches it with interest. Echizen moves back so he's sitting where Jiroh was laying a few moments before, and quietly sips his Ponta.

Eventually, Jiroh gets sleepy again, and goes and curls up next to Echizen, using the boy for a pillow. Luckily for him, Echizen's asleep by then, and doesn't notice. Since it's clear that he isn't going to get any answers at this time, Fuji puts away the photograph and stands up. He takes a picture of Kamio and Momoshiro, waves cheerfully to them and Inui, and leaves. As he walks home, he thinks about the ways his new ability could be used, and can't help but smirk.

This was going to be very fun, indeed.


	3. Flight

You know something funny is going on when you wake up and you're flying in slow circles around your room.

Of all the things he expected to do today - eat breakfast, for example - Jiroh was not expecting _this_. At first, he thinks it's a dream. Then his head hits the wall and it hurts too much for it to be a dream.

"Ouch," he says, somewhat surprised, then says it again when he manages, somehow, to turn upside down and hit his head on the doorknob. His shoulders are aching slightly, so he figures he probably hit them too while he was floating around unconscious. He grabs at the window as he passes by, but misses by several inches, fingertips managing only to graze the wall. Then, abruptly, he falls to the floor, and he lays there blinking at the ceiling for a few moments.

There's a knock on the door, and he sits up. "Come in!" he calls. The door opens, and Fuji Syuusuke steps in.

"Good morning, Jiroh," he greets, smiling. Jiroh stares at him, and Fuji closes the door, then leans against it, arms crossed over his chest. "Jiroh, I've a few questions to ask you."

"Okay," Jiroh says, not bothering to get off the floor, and looks up at Fuji curiously.

"Firstly, how is your shoulder? The one Echizen touched, I mean," Fuji says. Jiroh blinks.

"Well, he touched both of my shoulders," he says, just to clarify, then goes on to answer the question. "They're fine, they just ache a bit. But that's probably because I hit them against something in my sleep."

"I'm not so sure," Fuji says, and stops leaning against the door, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Jiroh, may I see your shoulders?"

"...Eh?"

"There's something I need to check for," Fuji says. Jiroh blinks at him for a few moments, then shrugs and tugs his shirt up over his head, since the collar isn't very wide. Fuji walks over, and carefully inspects the boy's shoulders, one after the other.

"Just as I thought," he murmurs, nodding to himself.

"What is it?" Jiroh asks, looking at him. Fuji lightly touches a fingertip to the point on Jiroh's left shoulder where Ryoma touched him the day before, then moves his finger to lightly touch the point on Jiroh's right shoulder where Ryoma touched him. Jiroh's eyes widen when he sees the tiny marks on his shoulders in the places Fuji had indicated. "What are those?" he asks.

Fuji sits next to him with a small shrug, then shows Jiroh his hand. "I don't know, but I have one too," he says. Jiroh peers at Fuji's hand, then sees a little marking on the side of the tensai's thumb. Jiroh cautiously pokes at it, as if it'll explode if too much pressure is applied, then looks up at Fuji's face.

"How did you know to check my shoulders?" he asked.

"Well, I suspect that Echizen is the reason for these marks. Mine is placed exactly where my hand came into contact with Echizen's bandaged arm. Yours are where he touched you, also with his bandaged arm. And after I touched him, I had that weird ability to make pictures move," Fuji explains. "Which brings me to another question. Did anything weird happen to you after you left Echizen, or sometime this morning?"

Jiroh nods immediately. "I woke up and I was flying around the room. That's why I thought I'd hit my shoulders," he says.

"I see," Fuji says.

A change of clothing for Jiroh, a good breakfast(courtesy of Jiroh's mother), and a fairly short bus ride later, Fuji and Jiroh found themselves standing at the front door of the Echizen household, talking to Ryoma's cousin.

"Good morning," Fuji says politely. "Is Echizen awake?"

Nanako blinks. "I think so. Are you two friends of his?" she asks. Jiroh nods, yawning.

"Yes. I'm Fuji Syuusuke, one of Echizen's teammates. This is Akutagawa Jiroh, from Hyoutei," Fuji explains. Nanako nods.

"Come inside, then. I'll go see if he's awake," she says, smiling, and steps aside so they can enter. The two boys walk in, and she starts to walk, but Fuji stops her.

"Ano... Nanako-san? Is something wrong?" he asks. "You look a bit worried." Jiroh blinks at Fuji, then takes a closer look at Nanako's face, and realises that Fuji's right.

"Well... it's just that... Since the accident, Ryoma-san's been acting strangely," Nanako says, shaking her head. "I don't know what to make of it."

"Accident?" Jiroh and Fuji speak in unison, both of them hoping for Nanako to explain Echizen's arm. She looks as if she's surprised and trying not to show it.

"He didn't tell you?" she asks. The boys shake their heads, and she sighs. "Well, I can't say I'm too surprised. In any case, you remember that last storm we had?" This time, the boys nod. "Ryoma-san kept staring out the kitchen window during the storm. He wouldn't reply when we spoke to him. He even ignored his father and Karupin. His cat." she adds, noting the puzzled look on Jiroh's face.

Fuji looks like he has a feeling where this was leading to. "Go on," he prompts quietly.

"Well, about ten minutes into the storm, my uncle gave up on trying to get a reaction out of Ryoma-san and went into another room to read. My aunt and I left too, because we had chores to do. And then we heard the door open and close, and Karupin's meowing. We immediately went into the kitchen, and through the window we saw Ryoma-san walking away from the house. Uncle was opening the door to go after him when suddenly, lightning came out of the sky and hit Ryoma-san's arm," Nanako says, and shudders as she remembers it. "The three of us ran out, and found him curled up on the ground, holding his arm. Aunt said we should take him to the hospital, and uncle picked him up to carry him to the car, but Ryoma-san said he was fine. He and uncle argued about it until Ryoma-san showed us his arm. The only damage to it was a long, thin burn down the side, and it was a minor burn at that."

"That's it?" Jiroh asks incredulously.

"It hardly seems possible," Fuji murmurs. Nanako nods and opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by someone speaking.

"Fuji-sempai. Jiroh-san." a familiar voice says. Nanako turns, and the visitors look past her. Echizen Ryoma is standing at the foot of the stairs, his hat mysteriously absent and Karupin in his arms. He looks mildly surprised to see them.

"Ah, Echizen," Fuji says, and smiles. "There you are."

They end up sitting in Ryoma's room, armed with cans of Ponta, watching Karupin play with a tennis ball. Well, except for Jiroh, who has taken up residence on Ryoma's bed and is sleeping.

"Jiroh says he woke up this morning and was flying around his room," Fuji begins, sipping his Ponta. He's not overly fond of the medicinal grape flavor, but he's tasted worse. Ryoma says nothing, his eyes on Karupin.

"Ryoma," Fuji says, and the tone of his voice - accompanied by the use of the first name instead of the surname - makes the younger boy look up at him. "Ryoma, what is going on? Why are you doing this to us?"

Ryoma sips his Ponta, his mussed bangs hiding his eyes from view. "I don't know," he admits after a moment. Fuji sighs softly and sits back against the wall. Jiroh mumbles something in his sleep, and Ryoma shoots him what is, to Fuji at least, obviously a fond look. Even if it is a 'get-off-my-bed' glare that's totally ineffective for obvious reasons.

"He is your friend, isn't he?" he asks. Ryoma aims a glare at him that's a mix of statements('stop-categorising-my-glares-dammit', 'stop-asking-me-that', and 'don't-assume-that-he's-my-friend-just-because-he's-sleeping-on-my-bed', to be exact), and Fuji chuckles.

"No. He isn't," Ryoma says flatly, and watches Karupin hop onto the bed and curl up beside the sleeping boy. Fuji smiles and doesn't argue.


	4. Backlash

It's painfully obvious at morning practice a few days later that something is wrong with Ryoma and Fuji. Momoshiro, who is playing Ryoma, and Kawamura, who is playing Fuji, are both quiet, and eyeing their opponents with concern. The two are trying to conceal the pain that flickers over their faces as they play, but unsuccessfully. Ryoma is playing with his left hand, because he can hardly hold the ball, let alone the racquet, with his right hand. Fuji is having to use both hands to hold his racquet, and his serves aren't as good as usual. The longer Ryoma plays, the hotter the already warm day gets. The longer Fuji plays, the more that words and pictures in the vicinity move.

Finally, their games end. The heat goes down almost immediately, and the words and pictures all still. The two boys sit side by side, towels over their heads, racquets beside them. Ryoma's clutching his still-bandaged arm, and Fuji's carefully holding his right hand in his left.

"Backlash," Fuji murmurs.

"Aa," Ryoma replies, having just figured it out himself. They and Jiroh have toyed a lot with their powers over the past few days, so it makes sense that their lack of control over their powers would result in their present agony - backlash.

"Backlash?" Inui asks quietly, from behind them.

"Mm. We've been using our powers a lot lately," Fuji replies just as quietly. Inui nods, understanding.

"I see," he says, then grabs Ryoma's arm. His touch is gentle, but Ryoma lets out a small hiss at the pain it still causes. He raises his arm for Inui's inspection, knowing it's a bad idea to resist, and the data collector carefully runs his fingertips along the spot where he knows Ryoma's nearly-healed burn is. Heat is radiating from Ryoma's arm, and Inui raises an eyebrow slightly, then releases the boy's arm. He turns to Fuji, then gently picks up his hand. Fuji winces, but, like Ryoma, doesn't protest. After examining Fuji's hand, which is radiating heat as well, Inui opens his notebook and starts writing. When he looks up again, he sees Ryoma unwrapping the bandage from around his arm.

"Ryoma..." Fuji begins, but stops when he sees the burn. It's long and thin, and looks like it had to've hurt a great deal when the boy got it. There are a few gasps from those who are watching. Ryoma stands up, then leaves the courts. When he comes back a few minutes later, his arm is completely soaked. As he nears Tezuka, he looks up.

"Sorry, buchou. I'll play normally now," he says. Tezuka nods, and Ryoma walks back over to Fuji and Inui.

"Fuji-sempai," he says as he picks up his tennis racquet.

"Hai?" Fuji asks, looking up at the younger boy.

"Wash your hands," Ryoma suggests.

"Ah. I'll do that," Fuji says, smiling and standing up. Ryoma glances at Inui, who is writing in his notebook again, then looks at Momoshiro.

"Hey, Momo-sempai," he calls.

"Eh?" Momoshiro replies, blinking. Ryoma smirks.

"Play another game with me," he says.

His arm hurts again after practice, and he can't do anything about it while in class. Afternoon practice goes more smoothly than the morning one, and Ryoma's mood is considerably better by the time he and Momoshiro reach the street tennis courts afterwards.

Fuji and Jiroh show up at Ryoma's house a while before dinnertime, arriving separately for once. Lately, they've been coming over a lot, since Fuji and Jiroh had apparently decided that Ryoma's house was the best place to practice their powers. Well, today, Jiroh arrives first, and he proceeds to cling to Ryoma.

"Ryoma-kuuun!" he whines as cutely as he can, because it always works with Ryoma. The younger of the two will never, ever admit it aloud.

"What?" Ryoma asks, trying to get out of Jiroh's grasp.

"Ryoma-kun, my shoulders hurt!" Jiroh says. Ryoma pauses and blinks at him.

"...What does that have to do with me?" he asks, then figures it out. "Oh," he says. He ponders whether to tell Jiroh the solution or not, then decides to be nice. Just this once, mind.

Sighing, he finally manages to escape. "Follow me," he says, and Jiroh obediently follows him.

When Fuji arrives and goes to Ryoma's room, he finds his two companions sitting on the floor, and pauses in the doorway. Jiroh is shirtless, and sitting on a towel, while Ryoma - who is not missing any articles of clothing - is wetting Jiroh's shoulders with a soaked washcloth. Ryoma looks up and sees Fuji, and he nods in greeting. Jiroh, on the other hand, doesn't notice him at all, since he is nearly asleep. Fuji brings out his camera and takes a picture of them. Ryoma blinks, momentarily blinded by the flash, then glares at him. Fuji smiles sweetly, then puts his camera away.

"Do we absolutely have to use water or wet cloth to sooth the pain, or will something like an icepack work?" Fuji asks. Ryoma shakes his head, then lightly presses a finger to each of Jiroh's shoulders, one after the other. Satisfied that both are sufficiently cooled down, he proceeds to cool off his own arm.

"I tried using an icepack earlier," he says after a moment. "It made it worse."

Fuji refrains from grimacing. "I'll keep that in mind," he mutters. Ryoma looks over at him, then pointedly at his hand. Fuji holds it up for inspection, and Ryoma blinks at the bandages that are wrapped around it. "Inui's idea. Damp bandages. If we carry a roll of bandages and a small bottle of water around on backlash days, we shouldn't have too much of a problem."

"Jiroh would have a problem with wrapping up his shoulders," Ryoma points out.

"Hmm. True," Fuji says. After a moment's thought, he shrugs. "I guess he'd just need someone to help him."

"Like who?" Ryoma asks. Fuji starts to speak, but is interrupted by a knock on the door. They look at it, then Ryoma gets up and opens it. "Hai?"

"Ryoma, you've got some visitors," Nanako says. Ryoma blinks once, then nods, and follows her downstairs, only to come to an abrupt halt when he gets halfway there. Atobe Keigo, Ibu Shinji, and Fuji Yuuta are standing around, looking either annoyed or uncomfortable. Then they spot him, and Ryoma blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, eyes narrowing.

"Inui-san told us to come here," Yuuta says. He's the one that looks uncomfortable. He glances towards Nanako, who looks puzzled.

"Inui-sempai, hm?" Ryoma mutters, and sighs. Tugging at the brim of his cap, he walks over to them. The closer he gets, the thicker the air seems to become. It had been like this when Jiroh and Fuji first visited, too. Ryoma studies them critically, then turns and goes back to the stairs. "Follow me," he says, and feels slightly irritated that this is the second time he's said that in one day.

The others follow silently, to his surprise. Atobe should've made some rude remark by now. Glancing over his shoulder, he senses the thickness in the air dissipating, but the looks on the faces of those who are following him indicate that they aren't as comfortable with this as he is. Half-shrugging, he opens his bedroom door. Jirou is wearing a shirt now, and is curled up on the bed again. The towel and washcloth are folded neatly and set aside, which is apparently Fuji's fault. Ryoma walks in, and Fuji looks up from the book he'd been reading.

"Aniki!" Yuuta exclaims, startled.

"Jiroh," Atobe says, blinking, and doesn't get a response. Shinji mutters to himself, and is, for the most part, ignored.

"Ryoma... Them too?" Fuji asks, frowning slightly and looking at the twelve year old. Ryoma shrugs and sits on the floor near his bed.

"I guess so," he mutters. Fuji, seeing that Ryoma is just as confused as him - and frustrated, which Fuji himself is not - holds back a sigh and puts his book into his backpack.

"Please, have a seat," he says, standing up and indicating the room. Atobe immediately takes one of the two chairs, and Yuuta settles on the other. Shinji leans against a wall and folds his arms. Fuji closes the door, then returns to his spot on the floor.

"Inui-sempai sent them," Ryoma tells him. Fuji nods, then looks at the trio.

"Why did Inui send you here?" he inquires. Atobe extends his hand, fingers outstretched, and they watch as small plants sprout from his fingertips. The plants grow into vines that nearly touch Ryoma's face before Atobe closes his hand, and the plants shrink abruptly into nothingness. Shinji closes his left eye, holds out his right arm, and electricity crackles down from his shoulder to his hand before he opens his eye and it vanishes. Everyone looks to Yuuta, who puts his hands over his ears, and there is complete silence in the room. Then he takes his hands away from his ears and sound returns in a rush.

The lack of sound has brought Jiroh back to consciousness. He uncurls and sits up, then rubs his ears and blinks owlishly at all of them. He sees Atobe and his eyes widen in surprise. "Atobe, wha-- ACK!" he exclaims as he shoots involunarily into the air. Shinji, Yuuta, and Atobe stare at him, and Fuji and Ryoma turn to look at him. Ryoma raises an arm, and Jiroh grabs his hand. Immediately, the boy falls - onto the bed, fortunately.

"That's Jiroh's ability. This is mine," Fuji says, then touches a poster that's on the wall, and it starts to move. He withdraws his hand after a few moments, and it stops. Everyone looks to Ryoma, who blinks, then tugs on the brim of his hat.

"Look out the window," he mutters. The attention goes to the window, but no one sees anything out of the ordinary. The day's just as warm and sunny and cloudless as it was when they arrived. Then, suddenly, it starts to rain. And then it stops again. The newcomers look back at Ryoma, who walks over to the washcloth and picks it up. It's still sufficiently damp, so he presses it gently to his arm.

"Backlash. The three of us have been using our abilities a lot recently, and today we found out the consequences," Fuji says with a smile, in response to the confused expressions on the faces of everyone except Jiroh.

"Is this why Inui sent us here, then?" Yuuta asks. Fuji flexes his hand thoughtfully.

"That's just one reason, I think," he says.

"What are the others?" Atobe wants to know.

"Well, what's one think you three have in common, other than tennis?" Fuji asks, and gets blank looks. He smiles. "Each of you has come into contact with Ryoma recently. Am I right?"

"Are you saying Echizen's responsible?" Shinji asks, eyes narrowing dangerously. Fuji nods.

"Jiroh and I got our powers only after Ryoma touched us with his right arm. So I'm guessing that it's the same with you three," he says. The looks on their faces tell him he's right. Not that he needs confirmation to know that. "He doesn't know when this occurs. For example, he's come into contact with many people since he got his power, and only the five of us have been affected. So he doesn't know if there will be more people, or -"

"No," Ryoma interrupts quietly, and the attention shifts to him. He has his back to all of them, and the washcloth still pressed to his arm.

"No?" Atobe echoes.

"There won't be any more people affected after this," Ryoma says.

"Why do you say that?" Jiroh asks. Ryoma holds up his arm. The burn is gone, and in its place is a thin, paper-white scar.

"My arm's healed. There won't be any others," he says. Then, "Fuji-sempai, can you contact Inui-sempai and tell him?"

"Sure," Fuji says, pulling out the photo of Inui. He touched it, bringing it to life. "Inui?"

"Ah, Fuji," Inui replies, his voice faint. "I was expecting you to contact me. Has everyone arrived there by now?"

"Aa. Thank you for sending them," Fuji says.

"You're welcome," Inui says.

"Inui, Ryoma's burn is healed. He says that no one else will develop powers, now. Unless they have already, of course," Fuji informs him. He looks up from the photograph and watches Ryoma walk back over to the bed, a bit unsteadily.

"I see," Inui's voice says. Fuji hears the sound of writing. He looks back down at the photo. "I'll keep an eye out for anyone else who might've been affected, then."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later, Inui," Fuji says, and puts the photo away. He looks up in time to see Ryoma fall forward and be caught by Jiroh.

"Ryoma-kun? Are you all right?" Jiroh asks, frowning and gently pulling Ryoma onto the bed.

"Backlash," Ryoma mutters, and promptly falls asleep.


	5. Prism

A couple of days after the first backlash day, Momoshiro comes to pick Ryoma up and take him to school. The taller boy hasn't done this since the storm, but apparently he's deemed it safe to resume. Ryoma is looking forward to a good, semi-normal day - because normal is too much to ask for - and it starts off more normal than days have been recently, which is refreshing. He and Momoshiro are almost halfway to the school when he sees it. There, on the back of Momoshiro's neck, right below his hairline, is a tiny marking similar to the ones that Fuji and Jiroh and the rest have. Ryoma stares at it for a few moments before speaking up.

"Momo-sempai, there's a weird mark on the back of your neck," he says, interrupting whatever it is that Momoshiro's been talking about. The older boy falls silent, which tells Ryoma that he knew about it already. "How long have you had it?" Ryoma asks.

"Three days," Momoshiro says after a while of silence. Ryoma is impressed that his companion managed to keep it a secret from them for so long.

"Then, you've gained an ability of some sort," he says bluntly, and Momoshiro's bike comes close to colliding with a streetlamp.

"How did you know?" Momoshiro asks, slowing down slightly and eyeing the streetlamp warily.

"You're not the only one," Ryoma informs him, and refuses to say anything further until they reach school. When they do, he tells Momoshiro only to come to his house before seven o'clock, and Momoshiro says he will.

At the arranged time later in the day, the seven of them gather in Ryoma's room, and Fuji asks Momoshiro to give a demonstration of his powers. Momoshiro pulls the shades down over the window to block out the sunlight, then sits back down on the floor. He closes his eyes and concentrates for a few moments. The others watch as the mark on the back of his neck glows white and the room around them grows darker, and then Momoshiro opens his eyes, and colored lights swirl in front of him. By now the room is very dark, and the lights stand out clearly. The lights travel around the room, illuminating the faces of the group, and after a few moments, Momoshiro closes his eyes. The mark on his neck darkens, the light returns to the room, and everyone blinks a few times to get their eyes to adjust. Afterwards, the rest of the group demonstrates their powers, and when they finish, Momoshiro leans back against the wall with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Odd, how all our abilities seem to fit us so well," he remarks. "And, you know, I've always wanted to be able to manipulate light," he adds with a laugh. Yuuta blinks.

"Me too... I've always wanted to be able to be able to control sound. Like controlling the volume on a tv," he says. Fuji looks around, studying each person's face carefully.

"It seems like our abilities are all things we've wanted to do at some point in our lives," he observes.

"Hmm? Monkey King's always wanted to grow plants out of his fingers? Weird," Ryoma mutters, tugging on the brim of his cap and smirking. The others look at Atobe, who looks both annoyed and embarassed.

"When I was a kid, maybe," he mumbles, looking determinedly at the window.

"What's this about growing plants out of his fingers?" a voice demands, and the boys immediately look to the door. Echizen Nanjiroh is standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. Ryoma shoots him an annoyed look.

"Don't smoke in the house, Oyaji," he says, and flicks his hand in his father's direction. Nanjiroh's eyes widen in surprise as a tiny raincloud appears above the tip of his cigarette, and even smaller rain puts it out.

"Your accuracy has improved. You've been practicing more," Shinji murmurs.

"I was bored in class today," Ryoma replies.

"Wh-what the hell was that?" Nanjiroh demands, eyes wide.

"You didn't tell your parents, Echizen?" Momoshiro asks.

"They didn't ask. Did you tell your parents?" Ryoma asks, glancing at him.

"Err... no," Momoshiro says with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his head. Nanjiroh opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by Fuji's cell phone bursting into song. Everyone in the room winces at the high-pitched, overly happy music, then give Fuji disgruntled looks until he picks it up and answers it.

"Ah, Inui," he says, smiling. "What is it?" he asks. The smile on his face vanishes almost immediately, and is replaced by a frown. "Where is he? Is he injured too badly? ...I see. Bring him here, then, Ryoma's house is closer. ...Aa. See you in a few minutes."

"Who's injured?" Yuuta asks as his older brother puts the cell phone away.

"Kirihara Akaya. Inui says he's not injured too badly, and that he saw him being attacked by someone with a strange ability, like what we have. He didn't get a good look at the attacker, so I want to ask Kirihara-san about it," Fuji says.

"Have you even seen Kirihara recently?" Atobe asks Ryoma. The boy shakes his head.

"So... there's someone else that can give powers," Yuuta says, frowning slightly. "But who?"

"I guess we'll find out when Kirihara tells us," Momoshiro says.

"Could someone tell me what's going on?" Nanjiroh asks.

"Oh. Of course, Echizen-san," Fuji says.

By the time Inui and Kirihara arrive, Nanjiroh has had the situation clearly explained to him, and distracts Nanako while the boys get Kirihara upstairs. Kirihara is, as Inui had said, not badly injured, but he's not entirely conscious, so getting him up the stairs is rather difficult. Once he is upstairs in Ryoma's room and has had his injuries tended to, he wakes up, and the questioning begins.

"Kirihara-san, who attacked you?" is the first thing Fuji asks.

"Kaneda Ichirou, of St. Rudolph," Kirihara mutters after a moment's hesitation.

"Kaneda..? Yuuta, isn't that the one who went missing recently?" Fuji asks, looking to his younger brother. Yuuta nods, and Fuji looks back at Kirihara.

"Why did Kaneda attack you?" he asks. Kirihara narrows his eyes suspiciously.

"Why should I tell you?" he demands. His eyes widen in shock when vines wrap loosely around his neck, and his eyes follow them up to a hand. His eyes travel up the arm attached to the hand, and he pales slightly when he sees that the owner of the arm is Atobe.

"It would be better for your health if you were to tell us," Atobe says pleasantly.

"Monkey King," Ryoma says quietly, and Atobe glances at him, annoyed. "Let go of him a minute, would you?" the twelve year old asks. Atobe sighs and withdraws the vines, and Ryoma walks over. Fuji moves aside to give him room, and the boy kneels in front of Kirihara, his nose a mere two inches from the other's nose. He stares silently at him, and Kirihara blinks a few times.

"Kirihara-san. What's your special ability, and who gave it to you?" Ryoma asks. Kirihara remains silent, and Ryoma sits back on his heels. "Hmm. You know, Kirihara-san, we're not the enemy. If we were, we'd have left you where you were. And we can offer you protection."

Kirihara eyes him suspiciously. "Protection?" he asks. Ryoma nods.

"It would be easy," he tells him. "No one can get into this house if we don't want them to. _No one._"

"Okay," Kirihara says after a long period of silence, and Ryoma steps back so Fuji can ask questions. After the interrogation finishes, the seven gather in the hall outside the room, talking in low voices.

"Hey, Echizen, when did you get so good at persuading people?" Momoshiro asks.

"I used to watch cop shows," Ryoma says, shrugging. Fuji smiles.

"I see," he says with a nod.

"But how can we protect Kirihara?" Yuuta asks.

"He should stay here until we figure out a way to keep him from harm," Inui says.

"Here?" Ryoma asks, eyes narrowing.

"I think that's a good idea. But what if they try to hurt Ryoma? Someone should stay here with them," Fuji says. Ryoma looks less than pleased.

"I'll stay," Jiroh says.

"Will that be all right? I mean, you go to a different school," Inui points out. Jiroh yawns.

"Momoshiro picks Ryoma-kun up in the morning, right? I'll be fine getting to school on my own. Kirihara-san can stay here and sleep. And Echizen-san is here, so he'll be fine, probably," he says.

"I don't need someone to-" Ryoma starts, annoyed, then stops abruptly when Jiroh uses _that_ face.

"Please, Ryoma-kun? We're just worried about you," Jiroh says, looking almost ridiculously cute. Ryoma stares, then tugs on the brim of his cap to hide his embarassment.

"Fine," he mutters.


	6. Threat

Kaneda Ichirou is found in an alleyway two days later, just barely alive.

Yuuta reports that when his team got the news, Mizuki looked unsurprised, and though Yanagisawa and Kisarazu were upset, they also didn't seem surprised. Kirihara is questioned by Inui as a result.

"Yeah, Yanagisawa and Kisarazu have powers. We were part of the same seven-person group, like what you've got here. Mizuki had no powers to speak of, he was just sort of there," Kirihara scratches his head, then continues. "I only know about them and Kaneda. The other three... their identities are unknown to me. See, I'm new to this whole powers thing, just got into it a couple of days before I was attacked. Our group, unlike yours, pretty much never has a meeting. Or at least, not every day. I dunno. But Kisarazu told me that Kaneda was the Core, which is the person who gives powers to the others."

"Do you have any idea why he would've been attacked?" Inui asks. Kirihara shrugs.

"My guess is that he got on someone's bad side," he says.

"Do you think that whoever injured Kaneda is a threat to us?" Yuuta asks no one in particular.

"Maybe," Momoshiro says, sounding thoughtful.

"We'd have to know the motive to be sure," Fuji says. "But I think we had better be on guard. Though not," he adds, "To the point of distraction." The others nod in agreement.

"What about me? I can't stay here forever," Kirihara says grumpily. "Let me go already. I can take care of myself."

"If the incident that brought you here is anything to go by, I'd say you can't," Atobe comments, raising an eyebrow slightly. Kirihara flushes, embarassed and irritated.

"However, he's right. He can't stay here forever," Inui says, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I think we should let him go, now." There is a moment of hesitation before the others agree, but they do agree without protesting.

"Kirihara, before you leave," Shinji murmurs, "will you demonstrate for us your powers?"

Kirihara stares at him for a moment, then looks at the others. With the exception of the slumbering Jiroh, everyone is staring at him intently. Kirihara sighs. "Toss me that tennis ball, would you?" he asks, indicating the ball near the bed with a nod. Ryoma flicks the tennis ball over to him, and Kirihara stops it with his hand. He sets it about half a foot in front of him, then holds his hand above it, palm down, and closes his eyes. He frowns in concentration, and a moment later the ball crumples, then crumbles, until it's in hundreds of tiny pieces. Kirihara turns his hand over, and the ball rebuilds itself. He opens his eyes and picks the ball up, then tosses it back to Ryoma, who catches it easily.

"Breaking things and rebuilding them. Interesting," Momoshiro comments. Kirihara stands up, sighing again.

"Well, I'm going to leave, if you don't mind," he says.

"Thank you for being so cooperative," Inui says. Kirihara nods slightly, glances around at them, then leaves the room, only to return a few seconds later.

"Hey, wait! What about the protection I was promised?" he asks, eyes narrowed.

"I never said anything about what happens to you after you leave," Ryoma says, shrugging. Kirihara stares at him in disbelief.

"Kirihara, I suggest you find out who else has powers, and ask one of them to protect you until you're capable of defending yourself with your own powers," Inui says. Kirihara scowls, then leaves. Several seconds later, he comes back in, looking more irritated than when he'd left.

"Hold on! I showed you my powers, but none of you showed me yours!" he said.

"Actually, Atobe demonstrated his when you first got here. Remember?" Fuji asks, raising an eyebrow and looking slightly amused.

"And since you're just one person, we only have to show you the powers of one person," Momoshiro put in. Kirihara frowned, then got an idea.

"I'll tell you Kaneda's, Kisarazu's, and Yanagisawa's powers if you tell me the powers of three of you," he says. The others shared a glance, and Shinji is the one that speaks.

"Fair enough. You go first," he says quietly.

"Kaneda can control water, Kisarasu can control sound, and Yanagisawa can control wind," Kirihara says. The lie is as plain as day, and pretty easy to figure out; Kaneda can control fire, Kisarazu can control speed, and Yanagisawa can control the ground. Fuji will later explain this to those who donn't understand - fortunately, his brother is not one of those who need an explanation.

"All right. Akutagawa can control fire, Echizen can control light, and Ibu can control metal," Yuuta says, smiling.

"Can I see a demonstration?" Kirihara asks. Fuji shakes his head.

"We have to take your word for it on the powers of the others, so you have to take our word for it in regards to ours. Now, weren't you going to leave...?" he trails off and raises an eyebrow. Kirihara scowls again, and walks out. This time, he doesn't come back. The meeting resumes, and eventually the topic turns to the subject of Jiroh and Ryoma.

"Since Kirihara's gone, does Jiroh need to stay here any longer?" Yuuta asks.

"I suppose not," Inui says, looking thoughtful. Ryoma blinks as something heavy suddenly drops onto his shoulders from behind, and glances over his shoulder. Or rather, at his shoulder. He blinks again - though not really in surprise - as he sees that Jiroh is the culprit. The older boy pouts sleepily at Inui.

"I don't want to leave, though," he said, almost whining.

"Jiroh, you really don't have to stay," Fuji says. Atobe opens his mouth to issue a warning, but it's too late; Jiroh is already using _that_ face. There is approximately fifteen seconds of silence before Inui speaks.

"All right, you can stay," he says. Jiroh gleefully hugs Ryoma, who sighs and looks at the window with a slightly harassed expression on his face.

"No one can resist that face," Atobe says, sighing as well.

"Are we absolutely sure that Jiroh's powers are that of flight?" Yuuta asks, blinking rapidly.

"Jiroh could do that way before this whole power business started. I think he's just that good because of practice," Atobe says.

"Maybe he's a natural," Fuji comments. He, Atobe, and Yuuta discuss it further while Shinji, Momoshiro, and Inui watch quietly as Jiroh falls off the bed and onto Ryoma, who falls forward onto the floor and loses his hat somewhere along the way. The end result is a sleeping Jiroh laying on top of Ryoma, still hugging him. Fuji pulls out of the conversation long enough to bring out his camera and take a picture of Jiroh and Ryoma, and then he puts the camera away and resumes conversing. No one even tries to help get Jiroh off of Ryoma until the meeting ends, and by then Ryoma is so annoyed with them all that he completely ignores them until they leave.


	7. Messenger

Outside, a storm is raging.

Inside, eight boys are sitting idly in the living room, two of them staring out the window, one of them trying to sleep but being disturbed by the loud thunder, one writing in a notebook, and the rest of them doing nothing in particular.

The living room is, as you may have guessed, the one located in the Echizen house. The eight boys, including Inui, had been in the middle of a meeting when the storm came up, so they were all trapped in the house. Earlier, when asked to try and calm the storm, Ryoma merely muttered something about weather backlash and lightning, then stared out the window.

After a long period of no talking, Jiroh puts his arms around Ryoma's waist and becomes deadweight, startling the younger boy out of his trance. "Ryomaaaa," Jiroh whines. "I can't sleep." He speaks quietly, as if it's a rule that one has to speak quietly during a storm. Maybe it is. In any case, Ryoma doesn't know how to help Jiroh, and tells him so.

Someone - Ryoma doesn't really know who, the storm's distracting him again - chooses this moment to speak up. "You could go sleep in your room, you know. And put earplugs in. I'm sure your bed is more comfortable than the floor anyway."

"Jiroh's room" is in fact a guest room, or perhaps 'was' is a better term. Jiroh seems to have no intention of leaving anytime soon. He also seems to have no intention of letting go of Ryoma, much to the younger boy's dismay.

"I don't want to sleep in my room, though," Jiroh says, starting to pout. Ryoma looks down at him and tries to get him off.

"Well, that's the only other option," the someone says again - Ryoma's distracted again, but for a different reason, so he still doesn't know who someone is - and Jiroh pouts some more.

Lightning flashes, followed shortly by a loud clap of thunder, but no one really notices that, because Yuuta has sat up straight and is speaking. "Ne, you guys, someone's outside, walking towards the house."

All eyes go to the window, and note the dark form outside. "Who is it, d'you think?" Momoshiro asks. Yuuta squints.

"I can't... it's very hard to tell," he admits. "No, wait. It looks like a girl."

"A girl? Why would a girl come here?" Momoshiro wonders aloud. Everyone ponders a moment, then the Seigaku students, with the exception of Ryoma, share a knowing glance.

When the girl arrives at the Echizen household shortly afterwards, she is ushered into the living room by Nanako, who then leaves to make tea. It is, as Momoshiro, Fuji, and Inui suspected, Sakuno. But as they greet her, they realise that there was something different about her. It is only when she says hello to Ryoma that they are able to pinpoint it; her shyness is mysteriously absent. Nanako returns with tea, chats briefly, then leaves, and everyone settles to take some tea, except Ryoma and Jiroh, who haven't moved from their position near the window. The atmosphere of the room is strangely tense.

When her cup is halfway empty, Sakuno sips it one final time and sets it down, then folds her hands on her lap. The action succeeds in getting the attention of the boys, even the ones at the window.

"You are wondering why I'm here," she begins, with a small smile. "I came because I was sent here to find the Core."

The boys start, eyes slightly wide, and for the first time that afternoon she looks faintly uncomfortable, a light blush stealing up her cheeks. "You see," she goes on bravely, "I'm the Messenger. For the one who awakened the powers of the Core. All of the Cores."

"Who?" Fuji asks quietly, his blue eyes fixed on her face.

"He... he wishes to be known simply as Kara. He told me that he will reveal himself to you at the appropriate time." Sakuno blushes a little more and looks down at her knees, then peeks back up at them. "Even I don't really know who he is," she admits.

"How do you know he can be trusted, then?" Yuuta asks.

"Because... well. I have a small amount of power myself. Nothing so strong as yours. I'm able to sort truth from lies," Sakuno says. "Atobe-san, would you please tell me something true, and something that is not?"

Atobe blinks, then considers. After a moment, he says, "I read and watch pornography. I hate my powers."

There is a moment of silence, because Sakuno goes bright pink at the mention of pornography, and even pinker still as she sorts out the truth from the lie.

"You don't really hate your powers." she manages to squeak. "A-and the p-p-pornography you take i-interest in is..." She squeaks again and brings up her hands to cover her blushing face. "...g-gay p-porn."

Silence falls, as all eyes go to Atobe, who looks surprised that she found out that detail. The silence is broken by a small snicker from the vicinity of the window, and the attention switches from Atobe to Ryoma. The boy has a hand covering a broad grin, and his face is mostly to the window, and he is definitely snickering.

"...Echizen...?" Momoshiro says tentatively. Ryoma turns his head and looks Atobe right in the eye, his grin turning into a smirk as he lowers his hand.

"So," he says quietly, eyes dancing with amusement, "that was what you were watching." He has the satisfaction of Atobe's eyes widening in panic.

Cushions fly as the several of the boys race over to Ryoma. "Ryoma, what are you talking about?" Momoshiro asks, glee written all over his face.

"What, what? You caught Atobe watching porn?" Jiroh asks, eyes wide with interest. Inui mumbles something about data and hovers nearby, notebook at the ready. Ryoma merely continues smirking at Atobe, who's rather pale, though he's now composed.

"Ne, Atobe, are you feeling all right?" Fuji inquires mildly, resting an elbow on the table. His chin is settled on his palm and he is looking up at Atobe and smiling, amused. "You're pale. Perhaps you should sit down?"

Atobe does so, turning his head, but he can still feel Ryoma's eyes on him, and can still see the smirk.

"I lied," Ryoma says abruptly, startling all of them. "Atobe wasn't watching anything. He was asleep on the couch. How he managed to sleep through it, I'm not sure. The channel he'd been watching shows porn after a certain time." The boys around Ryoma look somewhat disappointed, and their Core has to fight not to laugh. After a moment, he recovers himself.

"However," he says quietly, barely loud enough to hear, "I must confess that I did catch him reading it."

Immediately the boys flock over to Atobe, flinging questions at him. Fuji smiles, then looks at Sakuno, who has mostly recovered. "If I may inquire, what did this... Kara look like? And why did he send you to find our Core?" he asks. The room quiets, because everyone hears Fuji, and Sakuno looks faintly relieved that they're on a new, less embarassing subject.

"He is... older than us. Perhaps sixteen years old. He is just a little taller than Tezuka-san, but he has an air of gentleness about him. It's difficult not to notice his power. His skin is the colour of cream, and he has these amazingly blue eyes. His hair is brown and long, and looks silky. It looked... it looked rather like he wore makeup. Brown eyeliner. It made his eyes look catlike and mysterious. As for his clothing, he was dressed in brown trousers and a white dress shirt, though I didn't see his shoes. And his face..." Sakuno pauses, considering her words. "His face... is almost unearthly beautiful. It's feminine, but it has a masculine touch to it. He's slim and, from what I could tell, muscular, as if he too is a tennis player.

"He wanted me to find the... your... Core because he wishes to speak with him. And the rest of you, but your Core especially. He says you are to meet him a month from now _exactly_, at midnight, in front of Seishun Gakuen," she concludes. The boys are quiet as they absorb the information. Then, almost as one, the group looks at Ryoma, and no one notices the brief flicker of pain that crosses Sakuno's face when she realises that he is their Core. The boys communicate silently, through body language alone, and after several minutes, Ryoma looks at Sakuno.

"Tell Kara that we accept his conditions. We will be waiting at the school at the proposed time," he says, voice formal. Sakuno wonders if Atobe asked him to be, then nods and bows.

"I will," she says, then straightens and stands again. The storm has lessened somewhat, she notices after a glance at the window. She looks back at the boys. The Gifted have moved, probably without realising it, to stand beside their Core. Sakuno regards them with sadness, which all of them notice, and then she bows again.

"I may return within the next month to deliver more messages," she says. "Thank you for your hospitality, Gifted." She straightens and flashes a small smile at them, then turns to leave.

"Ryuzaki-san," Jiroh says. "How many other Cores are there?"

Sakuno considers, briefly, then sighs a little. "Two. Only two. And one is fading quickly." She leaves the room, and the boys hear her saying her goodbyes to Nanako, then leaving the house entirely. Outside, the storm, which had calmed considerably, suddenly picks up again, the wind shrieking. Jiroh notices with considerable surprise that Ryoma is shaking. Had Jiroh not had an arm around him, he never would have noticed at all; he was certain no one else did. When he tightens his grip slightly, protectively, Ryoma doesn't protest.


	8. Watchman

The Seigaku Gifted catch glimpses of Sakuno at school, but more rarely than ever, as if she is avoiding them. They eventually decide that she is. Another backlash day goes by, and though they handle it much better this time, Fuji wonders why Tezuka barely bats an eyelash when Momoshiro drops his racquet from the pain. The problem is very quickly remedied, of course, thanks to Ryoma tossing a water bottle to the older boy, but all the same, Fuji can't help but glance at Tezuka curiously. Does Tezuka know about their powers? Does he have powers of his own?

He brings the subject up at the Gifted meeting later in the day.

"That's just how buchou is!" Momoshiro says, waving a hand dismissively. Ryoma, who is using the dozing Jiroh for a pillow, turns his head and looks over at them.

"He does have some sort of power," he informs them. "But he's different from us. I was going to bring it up, but Fuji got to it first."

"How could you tell?" Yuuta asks curiously.

"Our eyes met, earlier, and I could feel it," Ryoma says. "He's not a Core, but not a Gifted either. He's outside it, like Sakuno."

"Another Messenger?" Atobe wonders aloud, but their Core shakes his head.

"No. He seems to be standing guard over something," he says.

"Maybe he's a sort of secret keeper," Inui says, not looking up from his notebook.

"Or a bodyguard," Momoshiro says, but looks slightly skeptical. Ryoma half-shrugs and rolls onto his side so his back is to them.

"We could always ask him," he says, voice slightly muffled by Jiroh's shirt.

"I think I will, tomorrow," Fuji says thoughtfully, and after a moment, the others nod, seeing that this is the best course of action at the moment.

Ryoma, Momoshiro and Inui linger in front of the school the next day after practice, waiting for Fuji to finish talking with Tezuka. After a considerable amount of time has passed, Fuji appears, and walks over to them with a smile on his face.

"What did he say?" Momoshiro asks eagerly, but Fuji shakes his head.

"Wait until the others can hear, too," he says, earning a frustrated groan from the other boy and a scowl from Ryoma. The four of them make their way to Ryoma's house, and only Fuji knows that they're being shadowed.

The rest of the Gifted arrive shortly after the Seigaku students reach the house, and the seven of them once again claim the living room. It's good that they've let Ryoma's family in on the secret, because it means that they're rarely bothered. As they settle around the room, everyone asks Fuji to tell them what happened.

"Tezuka had no problem admitting to me that he is involved in all of this," Fuji begins. "Ryoma was right in that he is not a Gifted. Tezuka told me that he is called a Watchman; he's keeping watch over us like a bodyguard would, using some kind of device that Kara gave him. His powers are two-sided. On the one hand, he can use them to heal us if we're injured. On the other hand, he can take the injuries he's healed and use his powers to inflict them on the enemy in our defense."

"That seems very fitting," Atobe remarks, and there are nods of agreement.

"Is there a Messenger and a Watchman for every group of Gifted?" Yuuta wonders aloud.

"It doesn't seem like it. Look what happened to Kaneda and Kirihara, after all," Inui says.

"That's true," Yuuta says, blinking.

"Wait, wait. If Tezuka can heal us, why doesn't he help out on backlash days?" Momoshiro wants to know.

"Because it's backlash. It's almost necessary. And besides, it's gotten better as we've developed our powers, hasn't it?" Jiroh says, his chin resting on Ryoma's shoulder. Momoshiro opens his mouth to argue, then apparently thinks better of it and keeps quiet.

"I wonder why we were given these powers in the first place," Shinji mumbles, and goes on, putting voice to speculations and annoyances, and everyone else half-listens, silently wondering with him.

"We're all more worried than we let on, aren't we?" Fuji says quietly, smiling a little, and Shinji cuts off mid-mumble. Momoshiro and Yuuta share a glance, then look away. Atobe stares down at his hands, and behind him, Inui adjusts his glasses and keeps his eyes on his notebook. Fuji looks at them, then at the floor. Ryoma merely looks out the window, leaning back against Jiroh slightly, and the older boy tightens his hold on him just a little.

It's true; even before the attacks on Kaneda and Kirihara, before Sakuno had told them of Kara and delivered his message, the Gifted - and Inui, their helper - had been worried, and not a little frightened. They've just never mentioned it in a meeting before.

Hours seem to pass in silence, and then, finally, Ryoma shrugs off Jiroh's arms and stands up. "I'm going to get some Ponta," he announces without ceremony, and leaves the living room. It effectively breaks the solemn mood, and the rest of the boys quickly follow him, the idea of a snack being far more appealing than that of sitting around moping. Within seconds, the kitchen is borderline chaotic and full of playful arguing, and for now the dark mood from mere moments before is forgotten.

"Why are both the Watchman and the Messenger from Seigaku, though?" Yuuta wonders aloud as he reaches past Momoshiro for a can of Ponta, and nearly gets an elbow to the face as a result.

"Sorry." Momoshiro apologises around a mouthful of crackers, then answers the question. "It's probably because Ryoma goes there."

Yuuta succeeds in grabbing the can of Ponta and retreats before he can be put in any more danger. "That makes sense, I suppose. But wouldn't it have been easier for all the Gifted to be from Seigaku, if that's the case?"

"Yes, but I'm sure there's a reason for it being otherwise," Fuji says, handing Atobe a butter knife.

"Kara will probably tell us," Atobe says, taking the knife. "Thanks, Fuji." The other boy nods, smiling.

"Probably. How long until we meet him?" Momoshiro asks.

"About a week," Jiroh replies. His and Ryoma's eyes meet as they glance at each other, and then they look down at their snacks. "Ryoma-kun has been having nightmares," Jiroh adds in a quiet, serious voice. All activity in the kitchen comes to a stop, and six pairs of eyes focus on the two.

"What kind of nightmares?" Fuji asks, a concerned frown on his face.

"I don't remember them when I wake up. All I know is, they're connected to Kara and us," Ryoma says, keeping his eyes on his drink. "They started a few days ago. Since then, they've gotten progressively worse."

"The past two nights, he's actually screamed in his sleep," Jiroh reveals, and Ryoma lowers his head slightly so his hair hides his face. The other six boys exchange worried glances.

"I can't believe we didn't notice anything," Momoshiro says, then looks back at Ryoma. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"Because I thought they were only dreams." Ryoma says quietly. "But all day today I've had a sense of deja vu that's directly connected to the dreams. Even now, it's there."

"Visions?" Atobe wonders.

"I hope not," Jiroh says honestly, slipping an arm around the boy beside him. "Because... if they are visions, it's not going to end well," he adds, almost reluctantly. Fuji is the only person who sees Ryoma holding so tightly to Jiroh's shirt that his knuckles are white, and thinks that if Ryoma is that frightened, the situation might be much worse off than the conversation is leading them to believe.


	9. Kara

Midnight a month after the message from Kara finds Ryoma and his Gifted sitting outside Seishun Gakuen. The night is exceedingly still and silent, ominously so, and no cars have passed for the thirty minutes they've been waiting. Jiroh is sitting with his back to the wall and Ryoma at his side, and the rest of the boys are standing or sitting nearby. Fuji is leaning against the wall about six and a half feet from the Core and Jiroh, and is watching Atobe curiously. Since Jiroh revealed that Ryoma was having nightmares, Atobe has been unusually attentive to the younger boy, though he denies it every time he's asked, and has had an odd expression on his face whenever the two housemates were together like they are now. Since Atobe is standing nearby, Fuji has a clear view of his expressions.

After a short while, Fuji straightens and walks over to the other boy. "Atobe." he says quietly, and the other's eyes flick to him, a surprised expression replacing the one of conflicting emotions.

"Yes?" he asks, blinking a little.

"Are you... jealous of how close Jiroh is to Ryoma?" Fuji asks, tilting his head slightly. Atobe stares, then folds his arms and huffs indignantly, avoiding looking at Fuji's face.

"No. Of course not. Why would I be?" he mumbles, then finally looks at Fuji, his eyes mildly accusing. "Aren't you?"

Fuji smiles and shakes his head. "We all love Ryoma in our own way - even, I think, Inui. I consider him to be family."

"How do you know that it isn't just you and I and... probably Jiroh that love him?" Atobe whispers.

"I can tell. It's in the way we all act. As far as I can see, only you and Jiroh have a romantic interest in him." Fuji puts his hands in his pockets and looks up at the sky. "As for Ryoma himself... it's harder to know."

"What do you mean? He pays as much attention to Jiroh as Jiroh pays him," Atobe says.

"Ryoma needed comfort and a close friend, and Jiroh was there. If it had been you staying at the Echizen house, it would probably be the same. Even in this situation, when you interact with him, he responds in kind. He doesn't want you or any of us to feel left out. I believe that right now, he sees us only as friends, or perhaps family," Fuji says, and Atobe opens his mouth to reply when Momoshiro suddenly stands up and points down the street.

"Look!" the boy hisses, and everyone turns to look in the direction he's pointing. The first person they've seen in hours aside from each other is walking at a leisurely pace in their direction. Whoever it is has on a long coat and a broad-brimmed black hat that's a little worse for the wear. They have their face turned downwards a little, so that the brim hides their features from view. The sex of the person is hard to discern, but as this odd person draws nearer, the Gifted become more and more convinced that it is not a woman, despite the long braid of light brown hair slung over one shoulder and hanging down to the person's waist.

The entire group is standing when the person finally comes to a stop in front of them. Without lifting their head, the person begins to speak with a soft, boyish voice.

"In the land of shadows, it is always midnight. The darkness is always thickest at that time, and so it is the thickest darkness that resides there. No light can brighten its roads, no light can come about at all, for it will be immediately put out by the darkness. It is said that this is the place where dreams are born," The person lapses into silence, then lifts a hand and touches the brim of his hat. "Greetings to you, Core, and to your Gifted." He lifts off the hat and presses it to his chest as he bows to them. They hurriedly bow back, and when everyone has straightened, the group of children study the older boy before them.

Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it. His skin is a wonderful, smooth cream colour, his hair looks like silk, his face is delicate and feminine, but clearly not a woman's face. Around his eyes are intricate, thin-lined, skillfully painted patterns in browns and golds, and his lips are curved in a soft smile. His eyes are a clear, striking summer-sky blue, and are eerily familiar.

"You're Kara," Fuji whispers, eyes open and staring. The young man nods, still smiling.

"It's good to see you face to face," Kara says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photograph, then holds it out to Fuji. "Syuusuke-kun, would you take us to this location? All you have to do is touch the photograph, and you'll know how."

Fuji hesitates, very briefly, then reaches out and takes the photograph. He brings it closer to himself so he can see it, and like a light going on, there's a faint click in the back of his mind, and he understands. The other Gifted are rather startled when they abruptly find themselves in a park, one not far from Ryoma's home. When they arrive, Fuji holds the photograph back out to Kara, but the older boy shakes his head.

"No, no need to give it back; it's yours," he says, and waits until Fuji has put the photograph away before sitting down on the grass. "Please, seat yourselves."

The boys do so. "Why have you called us out?" Yuuta asks.

"I want to talk to you about the other Gifted. Tell you about them, really," Kara says. Seeing that he has their complete attention, he tucks a stray strand of hair behind his ear. "You have, no doubt, discovered that you are the only group with a Watchman. Let me tell you about the other groups. The first group of Gifted was started after Kaneda Ichirou-kun's powers awakened. The members included Kirihara Akaya-kun, Yanagisawa Shinya-kun, Kisarazu Atsushi-kun, Sanada Genichirou-kun, Minami Kentarou-kun, and Uchimura Kyousuke-kun, with Mizuki Hajime-kun as their Recorder, like your Inui Sadaharu-kun. Their Watchman was a friend of Kaneda-kun's, one that no one else really knew. The mistake in this group was that the Gifted did not love their Core, and could not function properly. There was still hope for a while, but then their Watchman was killed, and a month later, Kaneda-kun and Kirihara-kun nearly met the same end. Earlier this month, they lost their powers and forgot everything connected with them," Kara closes his eyes as if this pains him, and the boys can tell that it truly does. After a moment, Kara continues.

"The second group's Core is - was - Dan Taichi-kun. He's the lovable type, so it was hoped that this group would go better. In it were Sengoku Kiyosumi-kun, Akutsu Jin-kun, Yukimura Seiichi-kun, Marui Bunta-kun, Tachibana Kippei-kun, and Ohtori Choutarou-kun. Their Watchman was Muromachi Touji-kun, and their Recorder was Yagyuu Hiroshi-kun. Both their Watchman and Recorder are currently in the hospital, and Dan-kun is missing. Their powers have been taken and memories of them have been erased, with the exception of Dan-kun, of course. Which brings us to you," Kara finishes.

"Why hasn't anything like that happened to us yet?" Momoshiro asks, his eyes wide. Kara gives him a sad look.

"Oh, but it has. Ryoma-kun's nightmares were not mere dreams," he says. "Here is what has been happening. The night before Ryoma's first nightmare, all of you were killed. The night after Ryoma's first nightmare, all but one of you were killed. The night after the second, all but two were killed. You were brought back every time, of course, though it's unclear as to how. But do you see the pattern in the dreams, how one less person is killed every night? And in his last nightmare, only one person died," The catlike blue eyes settle on Jiroh, soft and slightly sad, and Ryoma slips his hand into Jiroh's, his eyes wide in almost-remembrance.

"Who was the person - other than Jiroh - that died before the last dream?" Atobe can't help but ask, unsure if he really wants the answer. Kara blinks, faintly surprised by the question, then sighs quietly and lets his gaze rest on Atobe himself. The boy pales considerably, and almost jumps out of his skin when a hand takes hold of his and pulls him a few steps to the side. He looks down and to his right, and sees that the culprit is Ryoma, who has drawn Atobe and Jiroh close to himself, as if trying to keep something from happening. His gold eyes are fixed on a point just above Kara's left shoulder, and he isn't even making an effort to hide his fear. The other Gifted see this, and reach out to put a hand on Ryoma's shoulders. It helps, but not much.

Kara stands and walks over, and he rests a hand on the side of the boy's head, looking down at him with an older brother sort of fondness. "Be at ease, Ryoma-kun. Nothing will hurt your family tonight," he whispers, and Ryoma's eyes flick up to look at the cream and brown face above his. After a moment, he closes his eyes and takes a careful breath, then lets it out slowly and stands up straight, opening his eyes again once he's regained his composure. He doesn't, however, let go of Jiroh and Atobe's hands. Kara steps back and kneels to pick up his fallen hat. He dusts it off, then looks at the little group before him.

"I am not the one in charge of all of this. I am merely a Guide. There were two others like myself. One for each of the other two groups. Both have been killed. For a while now, I think, you have been wondering who it is that has been doing the killing," he says.

"Yes," Shinji says. "We have. You've told us all these different things, but you haven't mentioned that. Is the killer someone you used to be friends with? Or someone we're friends with?"

"Well. The second is a possibility, to be sure, but the first one is a definite. Her name is Shima. The reason I haven't told you yet is because I don't know who she has disguised herself as. Shima was an actress, once, which is where her power stems from. She is good at being someone she isn't," Kara says. "My power is similar in that I can turn into something I'm not."

"What are we going to do? We can't stop this woman if we don't know who she is," Atobe says.

"She's someone you know," Kara informs them. "She isn't Sakuno-chan, of course. But when you talk to girls, watch their eyes carefully. If they change colour, say, from brown to grey, or from light brown to black, it's very possible that she is Shima. But be careful not to let her know that you've found her if you do. You need to tell me before you act."

"How are we to get ahold of you?" Jiroh asks. Kara smiles softly.

"Very easily," he says, and shuts his eyes. he glows briefly, and then all of a sudden, his coat is left hanging in midair. It falls to the ground, along with brown trousers and a white shirt, and the next moment, a familiar cat crawls out from under the pile and sits looking expectantly at the shocked boys.

"Karupin," Ryoma whispers, and the cat bobs its head in confirmation of this.

"I always thought you were too smart for a cat," Momoshiro says weakly. Karupin - or rather, Kara - looks amused, then darts back under the clothing. After a moment, the human version of Kara is standing, fully clothed, in front of them once again.

"You see? It will be easy to contact me," he says.

"Why didn't you come forward sooner, if you were there the whole time?" Atobe demands. Kara shakes his head.

"I had to make sure I could do so without getting all of you killed. Again," he says, then puts his hat on. "Now, the lot of you should get home. Syuusuke-kun, would you help with this?" Kara pulls out photographs of the homes of the Gifted, and hands them to Fuji, who nods.

"I..." Atobe begins, and pauses a moment when everyone looks at him. "I would like to go back with Ryoma and Jiroh. My parents think I'm at a friend's house, anyway, so..."

Fuji looks at Ryoma and Jiroh to see if it's fine with them, then smiles and nods. Within moments, everyone is in front of their homes, or, in the case of Atobe and Jiroh, another person's home. Kara turns back into Karupin shortly after the boys get inside Ryoma's house, and no one sees where the clothes and hat vanish off to. The cat darts into the living room, and the three boys go upstairs to sleep, wanting to stay up and talk but being suddenly exhausted, and having nothing to say besides. They all topple onto Ryoma's bed, too tired to bother getting out futons, and are asleep within moments.


	10. Knife

Nothing happens for a week, except perhaps that Atobe seems to be one-sidedly competing with Jiroh for Ryoma's attention, and that Ryoma's cluelessness about the matter becomes more obvious. Aside from that, the boys are constantly on guard, half-expecting Shima to leap out at them from every shadow. The first couple of days, they're jumpy and nervous, but they quickly settle into more careful watching.

And then one day, Dan Taichi bursts into the living room during a meeting. He goes straight for Ryoma, babbling incoherently, and falls into the surprised boy's arms. At first, no one recognises him, because he looks nothing like the Dan Taichi they're familiar with; this one is bloody and bruised all over, and his face is black and red with blood that alternates between fresh and dried. He smells horrible, as well, and his clothes are in shreds.

"We should get him clean; that can't be any good for him," Fuji says, breaking the startled silence, and he pulls Momoshiro along to help carry the boy.

As they gently pull him away from Ryoma, the Core gets a good look at Dan's face, and his eyes widen slightly. "It's Dan," he says unceremoniously, but with a hint of surprise.

There's a chorus of shocked "What"s, and the rest of the boys - except for Jiroh and Atobe, who are already beside Ryoma - hurry over to help Fuji and Momoshiro.

"Yuuta, call..." Fuji glances at Ryoma, who gives him a look, then back at his brother. "Call Tezuka, please. And find Karupin." Yuuta, slightly pale from the sight of all the blood, nods and darts off.

"Where should we put him until Tezuka-san gets here?" Shinji asks, ignoring the blood that was seeping onto his hand through Dan's shirt. Inui opens his mouth to speak, and abruptly, Dan seems to melt through the arms and hands supporting him, and then he falls on Ryoma, who's trapped in his chair by everyone standing so close. Dan's bloodied lips move against Ryoma's shoulder, so quite that only Ryoma can hear him, and the boy bends his head a little to listen.

"Go to sleep," Ryoma finally suggests, and after a moment, Dan goes limp. The others silently peel him off Ryoma again, who is by now almost as covered in blood as Dan himself. This time, Ryoma stands up, and moves to stand near Jiroh and Atobe.

Yuuta pokes his head into the room. "Tezuka-san is here, he says to take Dan to the large bathroom," he announces, then leaves to find Karupin.

After Shinji, Momoshiro, and Fuji take Dan from the room, Ryoma sighs, then moves forward a few steps to peel off his blood-soaked shirt. As he lifts his arms, though, a stab of pain shoots through his right shoulder. He doesn't utter a sound, but Jiroh and Atobe know immediately that something's wrong.

"Ryoma-kun? Are you all right?" Jiroh asks concernedly as he and Atobe walk over to him.

"Mm... my shoulder kind of hurts," Ryoma said, reaching up and putting a hand to his shoulder. The pain almost makes him gag, and he quickly withdraws his hand. The blood that comes off his shirt and onto his hand is warm, not cold like the blood on the rest of him.

"He had a knife," he murmurs, realising, then hurries to the door and looks out. "Fuji-sempai!"

Fuji and the other two pause and look back at him. "Fuji-sempai, search him when you get to the bathroom, he has at least one knife. If he wakes up on the way there, don't let his arms free."

"A knife," Fuji murmurs, then his face darkens. "Did he hurt you, Ryoma?"

"Only a little. It's nothing," Ryoma says firmly. "Don't worry." And with that, he ducks back into the living room and one-handedly works at pulling off his shirt. He manages to get it off relatively easily, and mops carefully at his wound.

"Ryoma, it's not nothing," Atobe says, frowning, when he sees the wound.

"We should have Tezuka-san look at it as well," Jiroh adds, also frowning.

Ryoma looks up at them and starts to argue, then gets a good look at their eyes and quickly looks back down. "All right," he mutters, and allows them to lead him out into the hallway. He pretends not to notice the warmth of Atobe's hand on his back.

Later, after seeing the newly clean and considerably less injured Dan to the guest room and leaving Yuuta to watch over him, the boys retire to the living room. Kara makes some tea for them, and after passing it round to the boys, he sits down beside the coffee table.

"When he wakes up, I will ask him if he knows the disguise Shima has been using," Kara says. "Hopefully, he will be coherent enough to answer. How many weapons did you find on him, Fuji?"

"Twelve, counting the knife he used on Ryoma," Fuji says, shaking his head.

"Why did he attack Ryoma anyway? It doesn't make sense," Momoshiro says with a frown.

"Maybe he thought that Ryoma was Shima," Yuuta suggests. "He's been through a lot of trauma, and on top of that, the blood loss was effecting his brain, so it wouldn't be too unusual."

There are murmurings of agreement, and Ryoma runs a hand through his hair. "Is he going to stay here until he's all right?" he asked.

"It wouldn't be wise to move him too soon," Tezuka says quietly.

"Jiroh will have to move into my room, then, or go home," Ryoma says.

"Considering that Dan stabbed you, I don't think we should leave you unguarded in the house with him," Inui replies. "And Kara is only one person."

"He was also a Core and has been severely traumatised as well, so I think he's even more dangerous than Kirihara," Atobe puts in. "Therefore, I will stay with Ryoma as well."

"You've practically moved in anyway," Ryoma mutters, tugging on the brim of his cap. "You and Jiroh have been acting weird lately, Monkey King," he adds, more quietly.

Atobe is spared from answering by everything suddenly going dead silent. When the noise returns, Kara stands up and dusts off his knees. "Well," he says. "there's Yuuta-kun's signal. I'm surprised that Dan is awake already."

"Kara," Ryoma says, and the older boy looks at him. "I want to talk to Dan." He slides off the couch, then walks out of the living room. Kara shakes his head, smiling wryly, then follows. At the door, he turns and looks back.

"You don't have to stay here, you know," he says, amused. "You can listen at the door. Just don't crowd into the room." He turns and leaves, and the others share a glance before quickly getting to their feet and following.

As it turns out, Dan is not coherent enough to tell them who Shima is disguised as. When they finish with the fruitless questioning, Kara sends the boys home, with the exception of Jiroh and Atobe. While Ryoma and Jiroh gather the dishes that are scattered around the living room, Kara takes Atobe out into the back yard to speak with him.

"You should say something, Keigo-kun," he says. "To Ryoma, I mean. I have already spoken to Jiroh about this, and have told him the same thing."

Atobe is caught off guard by the blunt suggestion, and all he can do is stare. Kara goes on. "Ryoma will, more than likely, be confused. However, this _is_ Ryoma we're talking about, and he'll sort it out to his liking very quickly." He looks Atobe in the eye. "Try to tell him before we find Shima."

"I... I will," Atobe manages, still surprised, and Kara gives his shoulder a pat before going back inside the house. Atobe stares after him for a moment, then sighs and sits down beside the door.

"Damn," he says, with feeling, and kicks a cat toy. He looks around, frowning, as if expecting Fuji to pop up out of nowhere and spring the subject on him a second time. Once he's satisfied that Fuji is nowhere nearby, he stands up and opens the door, then almost runs right into Ryoma, who gives him a disgruntled look.

"Come on, Monkey King. You shouldn't be outside by yourself," he says, then turns on his heel and walks away.

"Demanding brat," Atobe says, sighing again, but smiles.

He can't see it, but Ryoma smiles too.


	11. Lock

Momoshiro grabs his soda from the vending machine and straightens up, sighing. Dan is still mostly incoherent - all they've learned from him is that Ryoma looks almost exactly like Shima. When questioned, Kara had said that he hadn't seen Shima in years, and that she'd probably cut her hair short and was dressing like a modern Japanese woman when not in disguise.

"Aah, this is getting frustrating," Momoshiro complains aloud, opening the can of soda. "No leads at all!"

"Oh! Momoshiro!" a cheerful voice calls, and Momoshiro blinks and turns. The owner of the voice is An Tachibana, who waves when he looks at her.

"Ah, Tachibana's little sister," Momoshiro says, grinning. "Long time no see!"

An smiles and stops in front of him. "Yeah. Where've you been lately? Everyone's been wondering if you dropped off the face of the planet."

Momoshiro laughs. "Well, I've been busy," he says.

"You're not too busy to play a game with me, are you?" An asks, and Momoshiro shakes his head.

"Let me finish my soda first," he says, grinning, and lifts the can to his lips. An smiles.

Back at the Echizen household, Ryoma and Jiroh are sitting in the living room half-watching television, half-doing nothing in particular. Ryoma glances at the window every now and then, and watches Atobe - who's outside - pace restlessly. After a while, the boy turns to his companion, who glances up from the television almost immediately.

"Jiroh," Ryoma says. "Why have you and Atobe been acting so weird lately?"

Jiroh blinks, and ponders the question for a few moments. He's just about to say something when Atobe bursts into the room, startling both of them.

"Right! Ryoma, can I-- can I talk to you outside? Please?" he asks, a bit too loudly. Ryoma raises an eyebrow, then glances from one to the other before finally standing.

"All right," he says. "I'll be right back, Jiroh."

The older boy nods, and Ryoma follows Atobe out into the yard, hands in his pockets. "What's going on, Mon-- Atobe?" he asks. Atobe runs his fingers through his hair, then turns to face him.

"I, ah... As I'm sure you've noticed, I..." Atobe pauses, uncertain, and Ryoma gives him an impatient look. Atobe blushes so faintly that Ryoma almost misses it, then reaches out and tilts the shorter boy's hat back before leaning down and softly kissing him. Ryoma's eyes widened in surprise, then drift shut, and he hesitatingly kisses Atobe back. After a few moments that are at once far too long and much too short, Atobe pulls back, and he watches as Ryoma's eyes slowly open once more. They stare at each other for a minute, then flinch in surprise when the door to the yard clatters open. Ryoma, realising that he has one hand on Atobe's shoulder, hastily withdraws it and tugs on his cap so the brim hides his eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" Nanjiro asks, eyeing them suspiciously.

"N-nothing!" Atobe stutters, and Ryoma slips past his father and into the house. Atobe glances round, then comes up with some nonsensical excuse and hurries away, flustered. Nanjiro raises an eyebrow, then closes the door and sits down to read his magazine.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Ryoma settles on the couch once more, cheeks burning. Jiroh, who had gone to the kitchen, returns and blinks at him. "Ryoma? Are you all right?" he asks, and Ryoma looks up, then nods quickly and looks away. The tips of his ears are turning pink, and Jiroh smiles before sitting next to him.

"You wanted to know why we're acting so weird lately, right?" he asks with a laugh, and Ryoma blushes more and looks back at him. "Well, we have the same reasons." Jiroh plucks the hat from Ryoma's head and puts it on his own head backwards, then kisses Ryoma's nose.

Before Ryoma can react in any way, the front door of the house opens with a bang. "Echizen!" Momoshiro's voice calls, and Ryoma leaps to his feet. "Echizen, I've found Shima!"

Jiroh's eyes widen, and Ryoma feels the blood drain from his face. The two hurry to the front door, where Momoshiro is struggling to take off his shoes. Fuji, Inui, Yuuta, and Shinji are with him, grim-faced.

"Who is it?" Ryoma asks, eyes narrowing.

"An Tachibana," Fuji says softly. "Momo met her at the street courts today."

"I didn't notice until after we'd played a game, too!" Momoshiro says, sounding frustrated, and finally manages to get his shoes off, nearly falling over in the process. He looks almost as if he wants to cry, and Ryoma, who has never given any thought to the matter before Atobe and Jiroh brought it up, now has a very good idea why.

"What should we do?" Yuuta wonders aloud, then nearly jumps out of his skin in surprise when Kara appears at his elbow.

"Does she know that you're aware of who she is, Momoshiro?" he asks. Momoshiro shakes his head unhappily, shoulders slumping.

"No. I don't think so. I told her I was expected at home and left," he murmurs.

"Then we have some time to plan our move," Kara says.

"Maybe not," Fuji says from the window. "She's walking toward the house."


	12. Quiet

The house is dead silent.

Having used Dan to kill Ryoma and his Gifted as opposed to doing it herself, An has never been inside Ryoma's house before. Nonetheless, she is familiar with the layout, and she lets herself in through the front door, closing it silently behind her. There are three pairs of shoes set out, which she recognises as belonging to three boys. Deducing that no adults are home, she removes her own shoes and pads confidently toward the living room, checking every room and closet she passes to see if anyone is waiting to ambush her.

She finds Ryoma in the living room, alone. Smiling, she starts to walk over to him, opening her mouth to speak.

"Shima," he says, putting an abrupt halt to her advance.

"No fooling you, huh?" she asks with a laugh.

"It's generally pretty hard to fool someone who knows you," a voice says from behind her, and she whirls around in surprise. Momoshiro is leaning against the door frame with his hands in his pockets, and on the other side of the door is Shinji. One by one, the rest of the Gifted come out of hiding. There is no sign of Kara or Inui. An - Shima - clenches her fists and stares at all of them.

"This isn't right," she murmurs. "Something is _not_ right!"

"That's true. Something isn't right. Why don't we start with you and continue the list from there?" Fuji suggests, smiling in a rather threatening manner. The painting above his left shoulder gives a sort of shudder, and Shima eyes it warily for a moment before turning to Momoshiro and pointing at him almost accusingly.

"You," she says, voice shaking, "are not supposed to be one of the Gifted!"

Silence falls, and everyone can see her trembling with suppressed emotion. Finally, Kara appears at the door. "All these years, Shima, of swearing you wouldn't be like your sister... and yet, here you are," he says, and he laughs, loudly. The sound rings out and fills the entire room, like the sound of a church bell. Shima flinches, and withdraws her hand. The Gifted remain silent, confused.

And then, it hits Ryoma. "You've fallen for him, haven't you?" he asks. Shima flinches again, and presses her hands to her heart as if to protect it. She doesn't look much like An anymore.

"Falling for one of the Gifted is dangerous for one of us," Kara says, not taking his eyes from Shima. "Shima's sister, Mika, fell for a Gifted, and died for it."

Momoshiro is deathly quiet, and has his eyes closed. None of the Gifted need to ask why, and neither does Kara. Shima isn't so sure, and she moves over to him, stumbling a little as her disguise falls away entirely, revealing long, flowing robes and inky black hair. Her eyes are green and wide, and she grabs at Momoshiro's shirt with her tiny white hands.

"Momo, Momo," she cries in her shaky voice. "Momo, please! I didn't know! Don't hate me!"

She looks up at him imploringly, and he opens his eyes. The moment he sees her, he looks as if he's been punched, and something like a small shock wave ripples through the room.

"Now!" Kara and Ryoma shout in unison, and the rest of the Gifted launched into action. The sound goes out, and silence erupts like a bomb before wrapping around Shima and giving sound back to everyone else. The artwork and photographs in the room give up their subjects, which tangle themselves around Shima, whose feet leave the ground. Soon, the only thing keeping her from flying away is her grip on Momoshiro's shoulders. Vines curl around her and along her arms, making it difficult to hold on, and electricity climbs the vines and shoots into her fingertips. Desperate, Shima holds on as tightly as she can, her screams muffled by her cocoon of silence. Thunder rumbles, and storm clouds gather at an alarming rate in the sky outside as Ryoma opens the door. A harsh wind fills the room and lashes mercilessly at Shima, who winces and is forced to withdraw one broken hand.

Momoshiro puts one hand over her remaining one, and she looks surprised and hopeful, which soon turns to dread when she gets a good look at his face. Light flashes, blinding her, and with a cry of pain she lets go of Momoshiro's shoulder, and he lets go of her, almost reluctantly.

She doesn't hear him speak, of course, but she sees him mouth a goodbye.


	13. Memory

The room is white and smells chemical-clean, and for a moment, she feels panic. Then she realises that she is in a hospital, and doesn't feel very reassured by the discovery. There is a tall, thin vase on the side table, with a single dusky pink rose in it, and a few cards. As she looks at the rose, the door opens with a soft creak, and someone quietly walks in. She doesn't recognise him, but she experiences a rush of affection for him that baffles her.

"Hey," he says, standing awkwardly with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Hey," she says. Her voice comes out as a soft croak, but she doesn't mind, and smiles at him.

Kara watches from the door, unnoticed, and the rest of the Gifted stand behind him. "She's not Shima anymore," he explains quietly to his companions. "She's a hollow shell with no memory."

"Did we do the right thing?" Yuuta asks quietly, looking uncomfortable. Kara smiles at him reassuringly.

"Don't worry - we did," he says. "She died and came back. It's less painful for her than living as Shima would have. The same thing happened to her sister."

"So her sister isn't dead?" Jiroh asks, confused.

"No," Kara says, smile widening. "And she lived happily with her lover and had a son with him. And I believe you know that son pretty well."

"Who is it?" Fuji asks. Kara beckons him close, then whispers the name in his ear. Fuji's eyes snap open in surprise, and then he smiles broadly in amusement.

"Kara! Tell us!" Jiroh begs, looking as if he might die of curiosity.

"I'll give you a hint," Kara says, laughing. "He's cleaning up Ryoma's living room right now because you ditched him." The Gifted fell silent, their faces pictures of varying degrees of confusion and surprise.

"Shima's nephew is my _father_?" Ryoma asks incredulously. Kara nods, then bursts into laughter at the horrified looks of the Gifted.

"What's going on?" Momoshiro asks, poking his head out of the hospital room. Ryoma buries his face in his hands with a groan, and Fuji smiles.

"Tell you in a minute, Momo. How is she?" he asks.

Momoshiro, still puzzled, runs a hand over his hair. "She's all right. No memories, just like Kara said. Do we call her An or Shima?"

"An," Kara says, smiling and giving Momo a pat on the shoulder. "It'll simplify things a little. She still has An's face, after all. Her hair and eyes are the only things different."

The group is shooed away by a nurse for being too loud after they tell Momoshiro about Shima's sister, and went out for some lunch, not wanting to face Nanjiroh until they're sure they can look at him without snickering or cringing.

Jiroh and Atobe sit on either side of Ryoma, both with one arm around the younger boy's shoulders, and Ryoma does his best not to blush when the others tease him. It doesn't work out so well, which leads Atobe and Jiroh to tease him too. Kara pays for the meal, and they go back to Ryoma's house to help with the rest of the cleaning - which turns out to be most of it, because Nanjiroh is napping instead of cleaning.

At the end of the day, Kara returns to being Karupin. Atobe, Jiroh, and Dan finally leave the house for their own homes. The storm begins to let up, leaving Ryoma's scar aching a little. The Core stands in the living room, absently rubbing his arm, and decides that the house was too empty.

He wonders how far Jiroh and Atobe have gone by now, and whether he should bother going after them. Ryoma found he doesn't like to sleep by himself anymore. Not that he _needs_ to sleep with someone. He just... prefers it. As the rain picks up again, Ryoma grabs his jacket and walks out of the house, only to find them walking back up to the house, looking like wet cats.

He smirks and let them in.


End file.
